Notices by TechAltar (techaltar@mas.to)

The fact that I didn't get hundreds of Brazilian followers both here and on Bluesky despite doing nothing to appeal to them in particular is highly disappointing :P

It's amazing how many people have what I call Apple brain.

From a random article:
"the Echo Buds – which, yes, appear to have quite a bit in common aesthetically with Apple's AirPods"

How? How do these look like the AirPods? 😂

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-has-sold-more-than-500-million-alexa-enabled-devices-drops-4-new-echo-products-140013808.html

If you're in Berlin and want one of the most exciting bike infrastructure projects to become a reality then check out https://radbahn.berlin

Basically a 9km protected bike lane across the city under the U1/U3. The website has the details and if you have some time, fill out the survey (should be option 3 on the home page). I've tried the pilot track and it's lovely!

The Pixel 8 is the most buggy mainstream Android phone I ever had (my GF uses it and it just bootlooped itself for 20 whole minutes, often freezes, etc.).
Ironically, my Surface Pro 7 is also the most buggy Windows machine I ever owned and the Surface Pro X of my studio mate Kilian is currently unable to turn on, stuck on a boot screen.

You'd think that 1st party hardware would be the most stable, but in my small sample size I've never found that to be the case.

Tech support question:

There is a Peertube channel called Shifter ( https://video.canadiancivil.com/c/shifter_cycling/videos )

When I try to subscribe to it using my Mastodon account, the page in Mastodon shows 228 posts, but none of them visible (see screenshot or here https://mas.to/@shifter_cycling@video.canadiancivil.com )

Any idea why this might be?

Actually it's worse than square one, because now anyone who did take the time to write a personalized message is lumped in with this crap.

I originally wasn't completely against using generative AI in some cases. Especially as a tool to help you ideate & refine ideas I think it can be genuinely useful. But the more I see it in practice the more I realize that in reality it's 99% just used a free spam generator that will ruin everything

This video blew my mind. The official Microsoft YouTube channel unironically recommends that you make ChatGPT write all your job applications because "personalized emails are important to stand out", but "now you can do them at 10x speed".

Surely they realize that literally the only thing that makes "personalized messages" valuable is that you know someone took the time to write them and that if everyone makes AI do theirs we are just back to square one, no?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ix4sKkQ6s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FQSFnZpsqw

Absolutely insane story of a Ukranian girl getting her face cloned & deepfaked her into dozens of pro-russian fake digital influencers on Chinese social media.

I fear this flood of AI shit is truly going to break the internet

Summary:

Views:
So far the video is performing below average. I expected this, because the topic is niche. Still, 100k+ people is a meaningful number of people to introduce to the Fediverse.

Money:
Sadly the video hasn't even paid for my costs yet (editor, studio, etc.), let alone my own time. Thankfully, I can afford to make a few videos a year about topics that I care about even if they lose money, but the low conversion rate to Nebula is not something I expected.

(3/4)

Next up, money!

- The video made €343 on YouTube so far.
- Ad rates in Jan/Feb are extremely low, so 27% of this is from YouTube premium subs vs. my channel avg of 15%.
- 17 Nebula signups so far, or around 1 signup per 6000 views.
- Nebula revenue is hard to quantify per video because it also includes watch time where analytics are crude so far, but I expect a total of €500 from Nebula.
- So in total ~€850 revenue for now.

(2/4)

Since many people here care about the fediverse, I thought I'd give you a summary of how my video on the topic performed so far & some thoughts.

Let's start with views & audience on YouTube:

- So far 106k views, which is below average (8/10) & now tapering off.
- Audience is skewing slightly more male, older & less USA-focused than my channel average (1st shot is the fediverse video, 2nd screenshot is channel average)

(1/4)

I view this in 2 ways:

- Optimistic: 100k+ people watched a video about internet protocols, of which many will have had their first introduction to the fediverse. This is a big deal & I'm happy to have contributed, even if it cost me money.
- Pessimistic: This video proved to me that interest from "regular people" is still pretty limited & that people who want a decentralized internet are particularly unwilling to pay for the future they want, which will be a challenge.

(4/4)

My video on the Fediverse is now live on YouTube as well!

A new internet is forming (& Meta wants to control it)

YouTube: https://youtu.be/R3ptZ1W-FRA

Nebula: https://nebula.tv/videos/techaltar-a-new-internet-is-forming-meta-wants-to-control-it

My video about the Fediverse is finally live on Nebula & coming soon to YouTube!

A new internet is forming (&Meta wants to control it)

https://nebula.tv/videos/techaltar-a-new-internet-is-forming-meta-wants-to-control-it

Thanks for coming to Berlin on such a short notice for an interview! @Gargron

The interview & my video are coming in a few weeks :)

Hello @Gargron I'm Marton and I run the YouTube channel TechAltar (https://youtube.com/techaltar) where I plan to make a video about all things Mastodon, the Fediverse & ActivityPub.

Would you be up for an interview? As a fellow Berliner, I'd love to invite you to our studio to shoot it with a proper set or digitally would work too. If yes, please let me know how I can contact you in private or send me an email to techaltar@gmail.com

2023 Year-End Review for Nebula:

https://blog.nebula.tv/2023-review/

A good read if you want to know more about how Nebula is going as a business. TLDR, things are great and more great stuff is coming soon :)

Important PSA:

If you are still a CuriosityStream subscriber, be aware that they are currently mass-emailing subscribers with what I think is a VERY deceptive "offer".

They push users to renew 2 year subscriptions, promising continued Nebula access for bundle subscribers. In reality, Nebula access for CS subscribers expires on December 31st. This means you'll have <2 months of Nebula out of your "locked in" 2 year contract. All their communication seems to imply the opposite.

(🧵1/2)

Europe is having a tough time with EVs, but I'm surprised to see how strong we are with e-bikes. From my beloved Cowboy to Vanmoof, Rose, Canyon, Riese & Müller, Veloretti, Urban Arrow, Lemmo and so many more, I would argue that almost all the really good brands are European. I guess it's a combination of a strong existing high-end bike industry that is comfortable with making expensive bikes + the fact that commuting on bikes here is a lifestyle, so people just "get it".

Thought experiment:
Since paying for Blue actively ranks your Tweets above others it effectively works as paid advertising. If you let users hide their Blue badges does that mean you allow ads that aren't labelled as such?
https://9to5mac.com/2023/08/02/hide-blue-checkmark-twitter-blue/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon